Get the latest pulse on art facts & home decorating tips.

Hi there! I’m an artist, interior decorator, and busy mom who loves spending her free time scouting out the hottest trends in art, décor, and design -- and of course decorating. I’ll be dropping by the ArtWire blog from time to time to share my favorite art facts, decorating ideas and more. Hope you enjoy my first installation!

Contemporary Chic

Here’s what I’m really into this week: the ArtSelect Contemporary Art collection.

I have to admit I’m an eclectic decorator at heart. My husband and I live in a home that’s brimming with quirky accents – from our bright red chairs to our graphic-print curtains. So naturally, the ultramodern artwork in the Contemporary collection really appeals to me.

Best of all, the collection contains 4 inviting categories to browse. Retro Mod is my favorite, chock full of fun graphic shapes and bright colors like this wonderful Rex Ray print.

Merengue by Rex Ray

The Black & White collection features art and photography prints with striking shapes and silhouettes like this cutting-edge X-ray print by Stephen N. Meyers.

Calla Leaf I by Steven N. Meyers

There’s also the Modern collection, with all manner of intriguing and eclectic Modern Art by Abstract masters like Joan Miro, Wassily Kandinsky and Jackson Pollock.

L'Oro dell'Azzurro by Joan Miro

And finally, the Urban Loft collection features art with a dramatic urban edge, like this cosmopolitan G. Lang cityscape.

Urban Abstract No. 165 by G. Lang

So if you’re the kind of person who loves progressive décor, dig into these 4 ultra hip collections.

Contemporary décor not your cup of tea? Discover your signature home decorating style—and art to match it—in ArtSelect’s What’s Your Style collection.

My son is 7 ¾ years old, which he’ll proudly announce to anyone who enters our home. His favorite subject in school is art, and he spends many happy hours drawing and painting skulls and superheroes for mom to tape to the fridge. Recently, he presented me with this wonderful and inventive trio of pictures (o.k., I’m biased).

I gifted my own mother with crayon creations when I was younger, too. And now that I’m all grown up :-), I’ve found other artful ways to share my creativity. At ArtSelect.com, for example, you can choose artwork that your mother (or anyone!) will love and custom-frame it with her décor in mind (in my mother’s case, a pretty, soft Traditional style).

There’s tons of lovely art to choose from, and your personalized masterpieces will last much longer than the fridge art of your youth! Best of all—you won’t get your hands full of finger paint.

Check out the Mother’s Day Art collection and save 15% until May 13th.

Props to ApartmentTherapy.com!

After the day's dishes are done and I've tucked my son into bed, it's finally time for me to unwind. Typically, I'll curl up with a good style magazine or surf the net for décor and design sites. Last night, the waves yielded a particularly intriguing find -- along the lines of displaying art.

Check out this stroke of genius from ApartmentTherapy.com:

That's right! They're mounting framed art directly onto bookshelves crammed with good reads. If you're a bookworm (like my sister), you'll do backflips over this concept (which my sister will when she reads this post). Check out the original ApartmentTherapy.com article and see for yourself.

Have you ever seen anything more creative? If so, post a comment and tell me about it!

Aside from the concept, I love the untamed yet delicate feel of the bird-themed art. Naturally, the beauty of those art prints got me surfing on a whole new quest: for art with intriguing-looking birds. Here are a few I added to my wish-list:

Whether or not my hubby will let me mount anything on our bookshelves is another question! Until we meet again, Savvy D. is signing off…

What I Wish Was on My Walls Right Now

Last week, inspired by art with exotic birds, I started a wish-list of framed art I’d like to see on my walls this year (maybe not all in one room). I seem to be into a retro/metro/hula girl/graphic-prints/global style these days, both in my wardrobe and my décor, but somehow it all works together!

So here they are: my top 5 art picks for this season.

1) Tiki Bamboo

As you can see, I’m really into retro art these days, but with an island feel. Notice the funky stained bamboo frame I found to go with it?

2) Constant II
By Brent Nelson



The big city girl in me loves the contemporary, Abstract feel of Brent Nelson’s work. I thought a sleek, simple black frame would showcase this print best.

3) Waikiki
By Scott Westmoreland



Hey. If I can’t get to Waikiki, at least I can have it on my walls!

4) Vertical Focus I
by Lisa Kowalski

Isn’t this fabulously wacky? There’s something decidedly ultramodern about geometric art prints. I thought a clean, stainless steel frame would work best with this image.

5) Floating Motion
By Aleah Koury

Exotic and elegant. This Asian art print would beautifully complement my celadon green living room walls and red paisley sofa.

Well that's it from me for now. Want to add to this list? By all means -- show me what inspires you!

Designing an Artful Office

My colleague Erik just moved into a new, larger office at work. Last week, he asked would I like to help him decorate his new corporate digs? Do dolphins swim?!

The Goal: A tastefully modern office that felt like home to Erik.

The Plan: Develop a theme based on Erik’s existing art collection and office furniture.

The Plan in Action: Erik’s furniture has a lot of warm earth tones, and his personal art collection includes B&W sailing photography prints and an angelic pencil portrait of his daughter. His art preferences tend toward Abstract Art and black & white photography.

Looking for art to extend and enhance his collection, I found a great assortment of Abstracts with earth tones. Abstracts and B&W photography prints are naturally complementary, so that made things pretty easy. I also found him some "soft contrast" photography prints by Alan Blaustein that beautifully echo the feel of Erik's pencil portrait.

To keep things interesting, I used different frames on each piece: warm walnut frames to go with the furniture and art color palette; classic black frames to play off the B&W photography; and stainless steel frames to bring in a modern element.

Because the office had a lot of wall space, I hung the matching frame groups together to create an interesting yet unified feel between the different pieces. I also made sure to align the tops or bottoms of the pieces to give the room a symmetrical feel. And voila: Mission accomplished!

I’d love to hear about your adventures in office decorating! Post a comment and drop me a line.

QuickShip Art for Instant Chic

If you’re anything like me, sometimes it takes an upcoming dinner party or a month-long visit from the in-laws to get you motivated to refresh your décor. Or maybe you’re the type who just gets randomly struck by a burning urge to redecorate. In either case, when you want to give your décor a facelift, and fast, here’s a terrific resource: ArtSelect’s QuickShip art prints.

As you’d expect from the name, QuickShip art ships out quickly—as in, the next business day—which makes it perfect for striking while inspiration is hot!

The collection offers all kinds of interesting categories as well, like Floral Art, Landscapes, Photography, Abstract and Vintage Art. Best of all, every piece comes custom framed by designers. Whew! One less choice to make in a busy day.

Copper Melody II
by Laurie Maitland

This unframed Museum Wrap canvas is particularly striking and sophisticated.

Chrysanthemum
by Selina Werbelow

So next time the decorating bug bites, for whatever reason, check out the QuickShip line, and have fun!

What Creative Tension Can Do for Your Décor

Have you ever seen people in outfits that match just a little too well? Like, say, a red velvet blazer paired with a green turtleneck, red and green plaid pants, red flats and a green beret with a plaid bow? The problem is there's too much repetition of color and pattern in that outfit; there's no creative tension. Now on the other hand, a red velvet blazer paired with skinny black jeans and a funky graphic-print t-shirt -- that's intriguing.

The principle of creative tension applies to home décor as well. When you're decorating a room or home, it's easy to accidentally overdo it with a particular color or theme. If you want to avoid getting stuck in a decorating rut, try keeping these 3 tips in mind.

If your style is Global, for example, and your furniture is largely earth-toned wicker and wood, try introducing a little color with some colorful Chinoise cushions and Asian Artwork. The images above are, from left to right, Moon, Flower and Moth and Moon, Persimmon and Moth by Anita Munman.

If you tend to favor neutral tones and whites in your decor, why not add a vibrant splash of color to lend even more drama to the overall effect? This Abstract Artwork, Passport: Bora Bora, by Marlys K. Mallet, nicely does the trick. The round, Asian-style lanterns also bring a nice counterpoint to the clean, angular and Contemporary feel of this room.

A Summer Bouquet of Art with Flowers

My friend Laura has her own little slice of paradise. She owns a lovely, rambling old farmhouse and several barns on a 250-acre plot of land, miles from town. My son loves being invited there for bonfires, barn tours and weenie roasts, but what really fascinates me this time of year are the flowers.

These days, Laura's property is literally blooming with life. Now that the tulips have come and gone, there are bright, bold irises, delicate petunias and oceans of peonies with fragrant, heavy heads.

Let me tell ya -- I'm no green thumb. I bow down to gardeners like Laura. When it comes to flowers, I do better with the kind on patterned dresses or in framed art. So in honor of Laura, I've compiled a little online "bouquet" of the flowers on her farm (some of them aren't in bloom yet, but you get the idea).

Lilies, begonias, hibiscus, hydrangea, gardenias, petunias, chrysanthemums -- you name it, Laura's growing it. And I'm sure if I missed any good ones, she'll leave a comment and let me know…

What's blooming on your land (or walls)? Post a comment and let us know!

Outdoor Art Saves the Day!

The other day, a good friend of mine asked if I knew of any no-hassle ways to add a little flair to her front porch. The answer was easy: aside from all the usual stuff like potted plants and floormats, why not try WeatherPrints outdoor art?

If you read last week's ArtBeat entry, you know that WeatherPrints are works of art that hold up beautifully in all kinds of weather -- sunshine, rain, and even sleet and snow! Weatherproof art -- what'll they think of next?!

WeatherPrints can take an outdoor porch like this...

...and transform it into a mini oasis like this:

This work of art, Patio Urn I, by Liz Jardine, fits in beautifully with all the green foliage and flowers in bloom right now, and it will perk up my friend's porch all winter long. Yet another decorating mission accomplished!

If you're curious to know all the nitty gritty details about what WeatherPrints are made of, check out this in-depth entry on Outdoor Art.

Until next week!

How to Make Little Spaces Speak Volumes

Using a predominantly red and white color scheme, Jack lends his space a crisp, clean, modern flair. Notice that Jack also chose a large, bold Pop Art print to adorn one wall. While you might expect art with bright, primary colors and a Contemporary feel to overwhelm a small room, they can actually work beautifully. The trick is to choose art in hues that match the rest of the room -- in this case red, black and white -- and to keep everything else relatively simple.

Got a cool small room you’d like to share? I’d love to hear your design tips.

And for more inspiration on decorating small spaces, be sure to check out these pages about expanding small rooms and adding space and light.

Decorate with '50s Retro Chic

You know what they say about fashion -- any style that holds timeless appeal is bound to turn up on runways again...and again, and again. The same holds true in the worlds of art and decor as well. That's why, in both design and decorating, we're seeing a strong return to vintage '50s chic.

The characteristics of this movement tend to be playful, functional, quirky, and simple. Objects and imagery center around things with seasonless appeal, like pretty women, heroic men, happy children, carefree scenes and simple, colorful patterns.

Check out the fun, retro details in artist Matte Stephens' home, which was recently highlighted in a Design*Sponge (one of my blog faves) article

I like the sweet simplicity and humor in Stephens' accents.

If, like me, you enjoy scouring flea markets and antique stores for rare retro finds, you might also enjoy tying the elements together with vintage art. Here are a couple whimsical picks from the ArtSelect collection.

Popcorn, anyone?

Now that's what I call a micro-mini!

My guys (i.e. my hubby and son) would love this print.

Who doesn't love a masked avenger?

Got any vintage art or decor finds to share? I'm all ears (and eyes)...

An Artful Line Designed by Yours Truly

Some recurring themes I've noticed lately, both in art and decor, are striking silhouettes, nature-inspired motifs, and above all else, clean, simple lines. So when ArtSelect charged me and my team of designers to design a new collection of custom-framed artwork featuring the season's most chic trends, we came up with The High Design Line.

First we started with the artwork. We hand-selected pieces that featured bold, stylized, sometimes exotic imagery. Then we customized each piece with elegant frames and chic, contemporary matting for a modern presentation.

There are framed art prints with bottom-weighted mats:

And there are prints with all-around thicker mats, which give the artwork extra visual “breathing room.”

If you happen to be in the market for some fresh, new art for fall, now's a great time to browse our new High Design Line. It's on sale, starting today, and going through August 7. Everything in the collection is ready to hang and ships out the next business day, so it's great for decorators in a hurry. Even if you don't buy, just check it out and let me know what you think! Sometimes our best inspirations come from your feedback.

See you next week!

A Small Homage to One of My Artistic Heroes

My friend Christine just came back from a weekend visit to Chicago, where she spent a day at one of my favorite galleries: the Art Institute. What really struck her this time around, she said, was how unbelievably prolific and multifaceted an artist Pablo Picasso was.

That got me remembering how I studied him extensively during my BFA. He really was artistically adventurous, wasn’t he? Few famous artists have taken so many chances and successfully reinvented themselves so many times.

There was his Blue Period (1901–1904), where Picasso’s paintings were pretty austere and he stuck to a palette of blue and greenish-blue. During this time, his subjects were fairly somber characters.

The Old Guitarist
By Pablo Picasso

Then there was Picasso’s Rose Period (1905 –1907), which reflected a happier time for him. He used cheerful pinks and oranges and painted more uplifting and hopeful subject matter, like this portrait of a mother feeding her child.

Maternity
By Pablo Picasso

Not stopping there, Picasso moved on to an African Period, where his paintings were strongly influenced by African sculpture. You can also see the beginnings of Cubism in some of these works -- the one below, for example.

Les Demoiselles D'Avignon
By Pablo Picasso

Here’s where, for me, things get really interesting: Picasso’s Analytic Cubism (1909–1912) period. Analytic Cubism, which Picasso developed along with fellow artist Georges Braque, is a monochromatic style of painting where subject matter is analyzed and reduced into basic geometric shapes on a two-dimensional plane. It’s a much more abstract genre, but I think it’s fascinating!

Violin and Guitar
By Pablo Picasso

From there, Picasso moved into Synthetic Cubism, which is a lot like Analytic Cubism, except artists use cut paper fragments instead of paints. What you end up with is a fine art collage, like Guernica, the original image featured in the print below.

Guernica
By Pablo Picasso

If that weren’t enough, Picasso was very experimental with sculpture of all kinds. Probably the most notable (or at least the largest) work he ever did was a gigantic 50-foot-tall public sculpture in Chicago. The “Chicago Picasso,” as it’s commonly known, is one of the more famous landmarks of the city. You’ve probably walked by it if you’ve ever been in the Loop district.

The Chicago Picasso
(image from Wikipedia article)

And here's one of his later works that I love:

Girl Before a Mirror
By Pablo Picasso

So that’s a brief sweep of Picasso’s artistic forays. His finished artwork numbers in the thousands and also includes line drawings, ceramics, murals, and even costumes and theater sets. For me, that vast legacy of creative experimentation serves as a reminder to keep pushing my own artistic boundaries. Who inspires you, artistically? Let me know!

Want to Know What’s Cool for Fall?

One of the greatest perks of my job at ArtSelect is getting to spend all day on the lookout for top trends in art and décor -- and then getting to share them with you. Right now, for instance, as summer heads toward fall, I’m noticing some really distinctive themes carrying over in art, design and clothing too, for that matter. Which is why my design team and I compiled 5 new art collections to help you decorate with autumn’s freshest looks.

Let me give you the rundown!

1. Silhouettes

This highly stylized collection features art prints and canvas with striking shapes and patterns.

Got the Bamboo Blues
By Jan Weiss

2. Giclee Canvas

The richly textured, collector-quality art in this collection will add luxury to any room. The images are all printed with fade-resistant archival inks, no less!

Earth Meets Sky
By Cheryl Martin

3. Boho Global

A celebration of worldwide style, this Bohemian collection features rich, Euro-chic art prints and canvas.

Tuscan Textures
By Studio Voltaire

4. Nature Inspired

This is one of my favorite collections, because it features artful imagery with flowers, birds and other nature-inspired motifs.

Orange Tanager
By Nicholas Wilton

5. Simple Elegance

These days, elegance doesn’t have to be synonymous with frufru. The images in this collection are stately yet not too fussy.

Empire Style xviii
By L. Rigo

And remember, you can custom frame any artwork from these collections (and on our site) to put your own spin on things.

Happy decorating!

The One Thing My Coworkers All Agree On

I work with a pretty creative and diverse bunch here in the ArtSelect web department, so opinions are often varied. Yet there's one thing they all seem to love right now: the oversized art print I currently have hanging on the wall behind my desk.

Poppy Chromatic
By Robert Mertens

I tend to switch the art in that location a lot, trying different things out. But as soon as I put up Poppy Chromatic by Robert Mertens, everyone took notice.

It's a real show-stopper and conversation piece. For starters, it's an oversized art print, measuring 41.4" x 41.4", so you really can't miss it. And the colors are strikingly vibrant, almost phosphorescent! Compositionally, though, it's quite simple; there are just 3 poppies against a very neutral background. So between all those elements, what you have is a bright, bold, beautiful work of art that also holds understated elegance.

Stepped Gold Frame

When I was custom framing this piece, I decided to use a very ornate, gold frame. You might initially think that a stand-out frame would be too much for this brilliant piece, but it really works because of the artwork's streamlined composition and neutral background. Also, the colors of the frame are found in the print itself, which draws the whole theme together beautifully.

Because the frame is stepped, it provides somewhat of a 3-D platform that calls even more attention to the image. And you probably noticed that there is no mat involved. That's because, between the ornate frame and the largeness of the image, I decided it would be best to keep things simple and leave it out.

So, what else can I say? This work of art is cheery, luminous and inspiring, and it makes me happy to look at it. I can't tell you how many of my co-workers have come up to me and joked, "If that work of art goes missing, you’ll know who did it!" But the problem is, I won't, since everybody loves it.

Stay tuned for more facts and favorites...

Customize a Warhol Print
in Less Time Than it Takes to Brush Your Teeth

You’ve probably heard this classic Andy Warhol quote: “In the future, everyone will be famous for fifteen minutes.” An interesting prediction from one of the most wildly famous and influential men of the 20th century.

Whether or not you’ve had your Warholian fifteen minutes of fame yet, you can spark your own creativity with the artist’s timelessly hip Pop Art -- and custom frame it in less than five minutes. It’s really simple. You just click on the image you like, choose the print size, and then pick a mat and frame combination that’ll really make the image pop (forgive the pun!) with your décor.

There are tons of different ways to explore your creativity. With Warhol's classic Campbell's Soup Can, 1965 (green & red), for instance, you could try something fresh and contemporary, like a cool, silver-grey frame:

Or, for a more rustic, casual look on the same artwork, you could use a weathered, bronze-finished frame:

For a really striking look, you could also experiment with a two-tone frame and use two contrasting mats:

It's really fun once you get going. And by all means, if you want to try your hand custom framing this artwork online, share the image with us!

The great part about custom framing with ArtSelect is that you can easily envision the artwork on your wall color by clicking the Wall Color tab in the custom frame shop. Another little perk to make life easier.

So, what do you think? Are you ready for your five minutes of frame...?

Check Out Our New Decorating Department!

Hey everyone: great news! My design team and I have just put together a Decorating Department to help you overcome "decorator's block" -- specifically when it comes to decorating with art.

Be sure to stop by and browse through our decorating tips and tools. Need advice on custom-framing your favorite artwork? Check out our matting and framing tips. Want suggestions on decorating large rooms or stairways? Check out our designer Room Solutions. You can also search for art by décor style or color to find just the right piece to make a room sing. Once you've found the perfect image(s), read up on creative ways to arrange art.

Great Savings Alert: Also, to help you jumpstart your fall decorating, we're offering 15% off our design team's much-loved Designer Picks collection until September 30th. There's all sorts of good stuff in there, from canvas art and photography to abstracts, still life, landscapes and tons of other options.

Whew! So there you have it. Just in time for fall decorating…

Check it out and tell me what you think!

Get Your Wardrobe & Walls Ready for Fall 2007!

Right now, it's all about color. The leaves are starting to turn, models are strutting new hues on the runways, and the world of interior design is churning out all kinds of shades of awesome!

According to one of my fave blogs, ApartmentTherapy.com/NY, September is Adornment Month! That means it's time to pay a little extra attention to your digs and fill it with beautiful, inspiring colors and accents you'll enjoy all winter long. It's also a great time to get started building your cool-weather wardrobe.

The worlds of fashion and home decor have long been intertwined, and that's as true today as it has ever been. So if you need some inspiration to get started building your fall wardrobe and decor, you can look to the Fall 2007 Pantone Fashion Color Report.

From Pantone Color Report Fall 2007

I just love these luscious new colors. There's something decidedly exotic about this palette, with alluring hues like Burnt Ochre, Chili Pepper and Lemon Curry. If you're decorating with art this season, you can easily find titles of all stripes, sizes and styles in our color collection. There are a lot of direct corollaries between our colors and Pantone's. Our Hollyhock, Tarragon, Espresso, Terra Cotta, Bijou Red and Yellow Ochre nicely mirror the new Purple Wine, Shale Green, Carafe, Burnt Ochre, Chili Pepper and Lemon Curry, respectively.

My current fave? This week, it'd have to be Purple Wine/ Hollyhock. There's something deep, rich and mysterious about this color, like a fine vintage wine. But it's also light, fresh, uplifting; perhaps not quite what you'd expect for fall. A bit of a paradox in its own right! That's why I love it.

Here's a stunning work of art from our Hollyhock collection:

Light Plum Orchid
By Nina Farrell

Need more inspiration? Read up on our Top 5 Art Trends for Fall. And be sure to let me know about your adventures in decorating! Till next week...!

To-the-Minute Trends in Art: The Inside Scoop

Hi there! Just a little over a week ago, a colleague and I spent two days at the 2007 Art Decor Expo in Atlanta, GA, soaking up all the latest trends in art and style. We had a blast, and now I'm back in town and ready to share.

First off, contemporary landscapes are really big this season. We saw a lot of luminous, airy scenes like the piece below, by William Vanscoy:

You Knew Me When
By William Vanscoy

In terms of color schemes, this season is seeing a lot of striking contrasts: for instance, teal, light green and blue paired with rich rusty hues